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Full-Text Articles in Agriculture
Multi-Tactic Ecological Weed Management In A Changing Climate, Sonja K. Birthisel
Multi-Tactic Ecological Weed Management In A Changing Climate, Sonja K. Birthisel
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Climate change is expected to impact weed communities in Maine, and the efficacy of tools and tactics farmers use to manage them. Through seedbank sampling and surveys of Maine organic farms, we identified currently rare weeds that are known to be especially abundant or problematic in warmer areas of the USA and might therefore represent an emerging agronomic risk. Many ecological weed management strategies that focus on depleting the weed seedbank are expected to remain effective in a changing climate, and become increasingly important as efficacy of cultivation and some herbicide applications diminish or become more variable. Through field experiments, …
Flower Visitation In Relation To Pollen And Nectar Nutrition: Implications For Pollinator Habitat And Conservation, Megan E. Leach
Flower Visitation In Relation To Pollen And Nectar Nutrition: Implications For Pollinator Habitat And Conservation, Megan E. Leach
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Pollination of both wild and crop plants is at a crossroads; honey bee populations are experiencing losses at a higher rate than ever before, and some native bee species are declining in abundance to the point of being listed as endangered species. A few examples of these threats include pesticide exposure, habitat loss, and climate change. In response to bee population declines, conservation efforts have been initiated to increase habitat quality for bees by planting pollinator reservoirs or gardens. Plants provide nutrition to bees in the form of pollen and nectar. Several studies have shown links between higher nutritional quality …
Band-Sowing With Hoeing For Weed Management In Organic Grains, Margaret R. Mccollough
Band-Sowing With Hoeing For Weed Management In Organic Grains, Margaret R. Mccollough
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Weeds remain the foremost production challenge for organic small grain growers in the Northeastern United States. Instead of sowing crops in narrow, single-line rows, band-sowing with inter-band hoeing is a cropping strategy that could provide superior weed control. In theory, band-sowing suppresses weeds in the intra-band zone by improving the spatial arrangement of the crop from that of typical rows to a more uniform pattern within the planted bands, maximizing interspecific and reducing intraspecific competition. Weeds in the inter-band zone are controlled by cultivating with aggressive sweeps; tine harrowing can target weeds in the intra- and inter-band zones.
Chapter one …
Optimizing Fertilizer And Compost Rates In Organic Reduced Till Agriculture, Nicholas W. Rowley
Optimizing Fertilizer And Compost Rates In Organic Reduced Till Agriculture, Nicholas W. Rowley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Interest in reduced tillage systems has been increasing and advanced by a need to practice agriculture in a sustainable way to limit environmental degradation. The focus on preserving soil integrity has become commonplace in all scales of agriculture. Recently trends in agricultural production have given rise to numerous small farms centered on local and sustainable farming. In turn, this has led to a growing desire to implement conservation tillage into these systems.
In 2015 and 2016 a collaborative effort between the University of Maine at the Maine Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station: Highmoor Farm and Cornell University at the Homer …
Reducing Tillage In Small-Scale Permanent Bed Organic Vegetable Production Systems, Jeremiah D. Vallotton
Reducing Tillage In Small-Scale Permanent Bed Organic Vegetable Production Systems, Jeremiah D. Vallotton
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The response of field-grown vegetable crops to reduced tillage and mulching in permanent beds was evaluated through measuring crop yields, weed pressure, earthworm counts, and soil basal respiration. Two vegetable crops (“Bush Delicata” squash and “Farao” cabbage) were started in April and May of 2016 and 2017 respectively, transplanted in late June, and harvested on 15-Sep-2016 and 25-Aug-2017. Fruit number and weight of squash, and head weight and feeding damage of cabbage were measured. These results suggest that intensive tillage (8” rototill every year) can be successfully reduced to alternating years of shallow (2”) rototilling and a less intensive form …